Freestyle Carving Trick - The Casper

[johnasmo]

Shot this at Grand Targhee last weekend, April 10, 2010. Jeff is doing hands on the ground, trench digging carves, backwards. See for yourself; then be sure to check out his "bobblehead cam" video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWPeH_kjzkA&feature=player_embedded). It's a classic.

What do we call this, freestyle carving? A series of linked switch carves is one thing, i.e. riding switch, but I think a series of linked same-side carves qualifies as a trick, and henceforth it should be called a "Casper" since he does it with great style. There can be heelside Caspers and toeside Caspers based on what edge is being repeated, or you could call them frontside Caspers and backside Caspers based on the rotation for the first switch carve. There could even be half Caspers and full Caspers based on whether you only link two same-side turns and then ride switch at least one turn before linking another two same-side turns. Watch the video; this is more than just "switch carving". The term switch Casper could be used to describe whether you start the first carve in the series while forward or switch.

In softies, this would just be about the transitions, and you'd call it a series of fronside/backside/switch 180's. But I think there's something special about doing it on an alpine board with good carved turns on either side that elevates these 180's to being "Caspers". I.e. 180's are just rotations, Caspers are 180 rotations while carving.

You can do video commentary with the above names:

"Frontside half Casper to switch heelside full Casper to backside half Casper"
Translation:

Entering on a toeside forward carve, rotating frontside to follow it with a toeside switch carve, linking that to a heelside switch carve (hence the first switch carve only constituted a half Casper), then rotating back to a forward heelside carve followed by rotating immediately back to a switch heelside carve for three heelsides (constituting a full Casper). The rider is now finishing a heelside switch carve, and then links to a toeside switch carve rather then continuing the previous Casper, and then finishes with a backside half Casper to end on a forward toeside carve.
I think there are examples of this combination in the video.

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[pokkis]

Does he ride normally with such small stance or due it is easier to do fakie turns ? Great lookin anyway :D

[CarvingScooby]

Freestyle Carving Trick - The CasperThanks for sharing. No idea what to call these kind of carving:eek: but it's cool:biggthump

Which cam u use?

Cheers
RT

[John E]

Is he just trying to make those of us who are less than expert carvers feel bad? He makes this look so easy.

[queequeg]

I was curious about the narrow stance as well.

[crack676]

That's very inspirating and maybe a good learning clip for next season! Very good & congratulations to your skills. It looks very easy if you do it:)

[softbootsailer]

Wonderful...shows what practice can do...Smmmoooootttthhhhhh :biggthump
I must say that riding Duck is where Fakie/Switch came from but to me this is way
harder as you are really going Backwards...not forward in both directions...
I also am aware that many HB racers can ride backwards with Style as well...
I do this myself at slow speeds to dial in my edges better...no nothing like this :eek:

Casper Carving is a good name... and I have never seen anyone do it as good as this...Bravo :)

[softbootsailer]

Again, this is really Great Inspiration Mr. Casper...

[Neil Gendzwill]

A casper is a skate trick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_%28skateboarding_trick%29). No way to do it on a snowboard though...

[johnasmo]

A casper is a skate trick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_%28skateboarding_trick%29). No way to do it on a snowboard though...

Bummer. :(
Guess we could call it Vesting, but I think Caspering sounded better.
Since it doesn't cross over to snowboarding, except maybe in some future of extreme noboarding, we could still use the name in the alpine boarding context. If I ever see anyone else riding like that, I'm gonna immediately think, "Hey, that guy is Caspering!". So that's what I'll be calling it.

[crucible]

Is that all? It looks as easy to do as pie.....

Seriously, that's some Crazy mad skill right there- I can carve fakie tentatively on green runs with LOTS of room, but not as aggresively or with as seamless a transition as that.

It inspires me to get back on the hill and PRACTICE.

[dredman]

Having spent Saturday riding with Casper, I must say it is as amazing as it looks, certainly more amazing in person. Casper has great style and flow to his riding, truly original. A little over 2 seasons ago Casper was just starting to work on this style of riding. It is very impressive to see his progression and creativity. I wonder what the next season will bring?

Please do not turn this thread into a flame show about what to call it. We can have our own names for stuff. It really looks like Casper Carving to me.

This video showcases what may bring more young riders into the sport and keep it alive and thriving.

Great work on the video Johnasmo, another fine creation!!

Casper it was great riding with you again, you have inspired me yet again to mix it up!

dredman

[caspercarver]

Does he ride normally with such small stance or due it is easier to do fakie turns ? Great lookin anyway :D
I have always used a very narrow stance with the one exception of riding my Swoard. It's very comfortable and probably does make it easier to ride backwards. I of course sacrifice stability, which you can see in the video where you can see me falling forward into the nose when i hit a bump but on the whole it works for me.

[caspercarver]

Is he just trying to make those of us who are less than expert carvers feel bad? He makes this look so easy. thanks, i worked on this for two years before i got comfortable at it.
this sort of thing happens when you spend 99 percent of time carving by yourself, you get bored and try something different. at teton village where i carve most of time, i am the only HBer. there are two others but i almost never see them. it's a rush to ride backwards. cheers.

[Arclite]

Please do not turn this thread into a flame show about what to call it. We can have our own names for stuff. It really looks like Casper Carving to me.

Since he made the style, it should be named after him, or let him decide the name, or something along those lines.

Now we have

Bomber style
EC
and CC. :biggthump

[two_ravens]

I find Casper's precision, athleticism and imagination for motion nothing less than awe inspiring. It is so cool to watch him cut loose on a nice wide groomer, but I've also seen him throw in a few switch carves on a scary narrow cat track that I was happy to just get down the regular way in one piece... No one else rides like Casper - just surreal!

And I love Casper's POV bobble head videos, but I'm glad we've got this superb johnasmo follow cam footage too! Thanks guys!

[BobD]

My wife once paid me the compliment of saying to a friend that I looked like liquid flowing down the slope. After watching this, I'm thinking I'm more like Molasses. casper is totally fluid.

[NateW]

Looks like fun. I do 180s and mellow switch carves a lot, but I never even thought of taking it to this level until the first time I saw one of Casper's videos - very inclined switch carves, very frequent 180s, and all very fluid. And it's gotten more fluid, and it looks really fun... I have to try this.

Casper, have you noticed there's some asymmetry to the way you ride? A few times in the video I saw this sequence, for example at 0:30 and 0:40 and 0:54 in the video:

Forward toe-side carve into a left-to-right traverse
Toe-side 180 hop or slide
Switch heel-side carve
Heel-side 180 slide
Forward heel-side carve into a right-to-left traverse
Heel-side 180 during the traverse
Switch heel-side carve, both hands on the snow

But I never saw the mirror image:

Forward heel-side carve into a right-to-left traverse
Heel-side 180 hop or slide
Switch toe-side carve
Toe-side 180 slide
Forward toe-side carve into a left-to-right traverse
Toe-side 180 during the traverse
Switch toe-side carve, both hands on the snow

I'll be the first to acknowledge that your switch carving is way better than mine, so don't take this the wrong way... but if you're looking for a new challenge, that "mirror image" sequence might be it. :)

[philw]

Very impressive - it's the smoothness which is important, and that's nearly perfect. I don't really care about snowboard ballet tricks which I think probably feel better than they look, but this looks good.

I'll need to spend a lot more time on piste to even start learning Caper carves.

[bumpyride]

Nicely done

Looks like a lot of fun.

Just out of curiousity what board are you riding? Looks like an old Rossignol.

[caspercarver]

Nicely done

Looks like a lot of fun.

Just out of curiosity what board are you riding? Looks like an old Rossignol.
early 1990s rossi 159R. i was definitely at a disadvantage riding with everyone else on coilers. i will have a coiler next year. i found myself without a modern board this year for reasons i won't go into but TwoRavens sold me this board and it works pretty good in good conditions.

[AMK]

super duper cool!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks br for this link :)

Casper u have my board!!!!! :)

[caspercarver]

[quote=NateW;303958]
Casper, have you noticed there's some asymmetry to the way you ride? A few times in the video I saw this sequence, for example at 0:30 and 0:40 and 0:54 in the video:


i do see it when i watch the video but i think i do it subconscienly. next time i am out i will pay more attention.

[b0ardski]

Your looking way more "fluid" than the vids from a couple years ago Jeff:biggthump nice work.
However smooth, my switch carves have a ways to go to get "EC" hand dragging like yours.
The inspiration comes a little too late for this season as Schwietzer just closed, but next year I'll dust off the 157 Asym Alp and do some pole-less practice.

Definitely looks cooler than my usual "bump board ballet", which does "feel better than it looks".



PS. Do you ever dig the tail in??
I pretty much quit riding square tails switch after a nasty tail dig body slam a few years ago on the factory prime.

[patmoore]

Wow! Way cool!

I have a 1997 Hot Shine in a 154 length that I may dig out next year and try a little switch carving. My guess is that it's a LOT tougher than it looks.

Thanks for sharing that!

[corey_dyck]

John's video gives a better perspective of how cool that is than the bobble-head videos from before. Not that the bobble-head videos weren't great too, but it's interesting to see from a 'normal' perspective too. Very very awesome to watch. That must turn a LOT of heads on the lift!

I tried some switch riding when out with some newbie friends on their 3rd day of snowboarding. It showed that I've forgotten a lot since my transition to hardboots some 7-ish years ago... I could link turns but it was far from pretty. I'll have to play with this next season if/when I get bored.

[scrapster]

Never again will I blame my equipment. (Okay, "maybe" never ;))

[Keyser Soze]

Since he made the style, it should be named after him, or let him decide the name, or something along those lines.

+1


Casper is a freestyle skateboarding trick that was invented by Bobby "Casper" Boyden in the late 1970s.

The style should definitely be named after him. Besides, in the future, anybody who posts videos of themselves carving like that will be subjected to "ohhh, they're riding like Casper..."

[Jack Michaud]

Awesome! Such agility and control. Not to take anything away at all, but this sort of switch carving was done in the video Hear No Evil from the mid 90s.

[Bruce Varsava]

I can sense a new board design possibility here:biggthump
Very impressive!

[Arclite]

+1



The style should definitely be named after him. Besides, in the future, anybody who posts videos of themselves carving like that will be subjected to "ohhh, they're riding like Casper..."

Why thank you sir.

Wasn't the casper where you kick the board up, land on the tail, and slide forward?

And Bruce, twin-tip EC board? ;)

[Bruce Varsava]

And Bruce, twin-tip EC board? ;)
Already built something like that. Pretty easy to do but not sure of all the required needs for that type of riding.
BV

[caspercarver]

I can sense a new board design possibility here:biggthump
Very impressive!
Thanks Bruce. Please put my name on your build list, i want whatever you come up with. i need a real snowboard, tired of riding vintage. I was riding at Targhee with five other riders and they all had your boards. I couldn't keep up. Cheers!

[two_ravens]

I was riding at Targhee with five other riders and they all had your boards. I couldn't keep up. Cheers!

Hmmm... I didn't see any of us keeping up with you, either! I spent most of Thursday falling down, trying to ride switch. :rolleyes:

It's going to be freakin' scary what you'll be able to do on a real board! :eek: Can't wait to see it! :biggthump

[Bruce Varsava]

Thanks Bruce. Please put my name on your build list, i want whatever you come up with. i need a real snowboard, tired of riding vintage. I was riding at Targhee with five other riders and they all had your boards. I couldn't keep up. Cheers!

I have dabbled in the twin tip carving boards on a few occasions. I have a demo in stock which from my memory is about mid 160s but the sidecut is 12 or 13ish as it was a stubby oriented design. For your application it looks like a tighter sidecut is a good idea. Falling backwards at speed seems not like a good thing. Toss me out some dimensions if you have some ideas. Not sure if variable sidecut would be good as the uniform turn arc of a radial sidecut may be easier to handle. Taper is another interesting thing while riding this way. The possibilities are endless. Oops, I feel a headache coming on;)
BV

[pokkis]

Bruce, good point about tapper, that explains some issue i noticed when practising, never tought that just put that in driver error section ;)

[Steve Prokopiw]

As a 'freestyle' carver myself it's great to see others are innovating with excellent tricks pulled off with great form.It will be cool to see what you pull off with a modern board;though most of my best tricks have been with traditional freeride boards with plates,I will design my next board with freestyle in mind,but with carving performance still part of the equation.My Diablo 210's shape facilitates some of this but is simply too big to do all carving the tricks I've done over the years.

OOPS,got dyslexic on the title,hehe

[Zone]

That is absolutely awesome ! and so smooth at mixing it all together.

[caspercarver]

PS. Do you ever dig the tail in??
I pretty much quit riding square tails switch after a nasty tail dig body slam a few years ago on the factory prime.
In the last three years i remember only two tail digs. That's my biggest fear along with being partially blind when your leaning into a turn backwards, thus a helmet and at Teton Village the last few years, no crowds to watch out for. I did have one crash with a skier last year, no injuries. It was witnessed by a ski patroller and she accessed no blame.

[caspercarver]

A casper is a skate trick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_%28skateboarding_trick%29). No way to do it on a snowboard though...
here is a YouTube example of the "casper" . you would need releasable bindings for this;)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4U3OuU2qGs&feature=PlayList&p=2E1B289B091E2BDD&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1.

[b0ardski]

I have dabbled in the twin tip carving boards on a few occasions. I have a demo in stock which from my memory is about mid 160s but the sidecut is 12 or 13ish as it was a stubby oriented design. For your application it looks like a tighter sidecut is a good idea. Falling backwards at speed seems not like a good thing. Toss me out some dimensions if you have some ideas. Not sure if variable sidecut would be good as the uniform turn arc of a radial sidecut may be easier to handle. Taper is another interesting thing while riding this way. The possibilities are endless. Oops, I feel a headache coming on;)
BV

I carve switch on an Identity 173 that is a twin tip with no taper & a variable sidecut (I believe is 'quartenary elipse' from the mind of John McGuiness, Bryan would know more).
This VSR is a bit unequal for riding switch; but a blended radius could work really well for this type of riding if it's mirrored end to end.

I'm imagining a 165 symmetric twin with a switchcarve oriented asym flex core(equal at both ends) and the blended radii around 9-11m.
22-23 waist to allow lower angles of +/- 45*, enough tip/tail to handle lots of powder, and early rise for forgiveness initiating carves.
I've been dreaming of an Asym Alp with powder twin tips :1luvu:for 15yrs.

Just thinking about a new metal "Coiler Switchcarve" has me drooling:p
Pretty please Bruce, "if you build it they will come" :biggthump I'll certainly buy it.

[SnowNBeachAddict]

I am calling it the Casper. Amazing video's!!! Can count how many times I have watched them! Truly original and amazing! I would love to see the expression on other people's faces watching him ride!

I have been riding old equipment since the mid 90's (ROSSI alpine in fact) and just got my first new board, a Coiler 161 VSR! Bruce is BRILLIANT! I have had the board out 3 times now and am amazed every time I ride it! His boards are addictive! I now understand why so many people ride Coilers!!!!
Ya can't go wrong with a Coiler:1luvu:

[NateW]

Not sure if variable sidecut would be good as the uniform turn arc of a radial sidecut may be easier to handle. Taper is another interesting thing while riding this way. The possibilities are endless.

This kind of thing has been on my mind ever since the variable-sidecut + decamber stuff started getting popular. I don't carve quite like Casper but I do spend a lot of timing riding switch and carving switch, so the progressive sidecut idea does not appeal to me at all.

What is lost when the 'decambered' side is combined with a conventional uniform sidecut? Obviously the idea of leaning forward to turn tighter would be right out, but frankly that never appealed to me either. :) Is there anything more to it?

Different radii for the tip and midsection seems fine, as long as the tail as the same radius as the tip.

These questions are not just for Bruce, but anyone who has experience riding decambered boards, or better yet building them. :)

[norman]

Nice Job Casper.I'm impressed with how fluid you are on your board.Bring that Casper style with you to SES next year so we can do a few turns together.Thanks Johnasmo for bring us this impressive vidio.
Norman

[JakeW.]

...SES next year...
Glad to hear that you will be at SES next year! We rode together at the SES in 2001 (with David, Johann, Rex,...). I'm going to try to make it out there for SES next year. We'll have to crank some turns and launch off of everything!

[norman]

Hey Jake good to hear from you.I remember riding with you,ski boots,wide stance,excellent carver. Come on out next year and we'll do some turns,have a good summer.
Norman

[usprosnow]

very nice dude, very smoothe and yes this type of carving has been around for awhile i watched martin franenamitz from austria race fake and qualify at a world cup also victoria jelaeus from canada would do this on a super g board flying vrazy insane anyway not to take away from you. its real nice to watch. i have been in hard boots since 87 and still eat **** doin this haha